Etymograph

English

signify

Signify comes from Latin significō ‘to show, express, signify, point out’, from signum ‘token, sign’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *segnom.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*segnom1‘sign’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsignum2‘token, sign’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsignificō3as significare‘to show, express, signify, point out’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400signifier3
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500signifien3
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1593signify3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin signum
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin significo
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English signify
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]: “I’ll to the king; and signify to him /…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*segnomWiktionary, Latin signum‘sign’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsignumWiktionary, Latin significo‘token, sign’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsignificōWiktionary, English signifyas significare‘to show, express, signify, point out’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400signifierWiktionary, English signify
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500signifienWiktionary, English signify
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1593signifyWiktionary, English signify. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]: “I’ll to the king; and signify to him /…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sek- ‘to cut’

saw, sex, risk, section, ship, sexual, segment, sack, insect, scarlet, sawyer, designation, sax, het, shingle, sickle, dissect, scythe, seg, sich, sedge, desiccation, brassica, desiccant, assignation, 52 more

through Proto-Italic *segnom ‘sign’

design, sealing, resign, assign, consign, 18 more

through Latin signum ‘token, sign’

seal, signal, ensign, insignia, sain, signet, sigil, 12 more

Today it means

verb To create a sign out of something.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “signify”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin signum, Latin significo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *segnom / signify

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